Iranian ‘Sun Children’ vying in New Zealand

Iranian feature ‘Sun Children’ has been competing at the New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF).

Directed by Majid Majidi, the 99-minute movie will go on the NZIFF screen on November 7 and 20.

‘Sun Children’ tells the story of a 12-year-old boy and his three friends. They work quite hard to financially support their needy families while they sometimes commit petty crimes to make easy money.

Everything changes, however, when one of them is entrusted to find a hidden treasure underground, but he must first enroll at the Sun (Khorshid) School, a charitable institution that tries to educate street kids and children suffering child labor.

The movie is a depiction of the contrast between the world of children and adults, which is clearly shown by the children and the path they are about to take to become grown-ups.

The film represents the lack of education and repressive attitudes that deprive these children of their childhood.

In this regard, special attention has been paid to the issue of playing which normally defines a part of childhood.

Majidi was earlier quoted by the local media as saying, “The message of ‘Sun Children’ is that we are all responsible for these children, many of whom are extremely talented and all of whom are precious.”

He also noted that “it is simply not tolerable that their social and economic status consigns them to a future of limited opportunities and poor prospects.”

Co-written by Nima Javidi and Majidi, some notable actors such as Ali Nasiriyan, Javad Ezzati, and Tannaz Tabatabaee have appeared in ‘Sun Children’.

The movie won the Crystal Simorgh for Best Film at the 38th Fajr Film Festival in Tehran in February 2020 and was selected to represent Iran in the best foreign-language film category of the 93rd Academy Awards in 2021.

It has gone on screen at several global events, including the 77th Venice Film Festival in Italy, where it brought the Marcello Mastroianni Award to its young actor Rouhollah Zamani.

‘Sun Children’ won the Golden Slipper for best feature film at the Zlin Film Festival in the Czech Republic. The jury called the film “a truly powerful, energetic and heartfelt story which engages all of us through its masterful filmmaking.” It also described the child labor drama as “another excellent example of Majid Majidi’s great love and care for the underprivileged children in Iran and around the world.”

Most recently it grabbed the Award of the City of Chemnitz at the SCHLiNGEL International Film Festival for Children and Young Audiences in Germany.

Strand Releasing, a leading US distributor of foreign language, American independent and documentary films in theaters has purchased the US rights to ‘Sun Children’.

iFilm website has released an exclusive report on ‘Sun Children’, interweaving with the director, the scriptwriter Javidi, the actress Shamila Shirzad, the actors Abolfazl Zhirzad, Zamani and Mehdi Mousavi, and the film critic Mohammad-Reza Moqaddasian. Click here to watch the report.

The 50th edition of the NZIFF has been slated for November 5-21, 2021.

Read more:

Iranian feature ‘A Hero’ participating in NZIFF

MG/AG